World Children's Day 2020

In recognition of World Children's Day, Abigail passed a motion recognising the huge numbers of young people experiencing poverty and homelessness and the need to urgently fix this.

Ms ABIGAIL BOYD (10:02:34): I move:

(1)That this House notes that 20 November 2020 is World Children's Day.

(2)That this House acknowledges the importance of UNICEF and World Children's Day in raising awareness of the issues faced by children around the world.

(3)That this House notes that:

(a)there are more than 1.3 million children aged 14 and under in New South Wales;

(b)as of 2019 more than one in six children in New South Wales are living in homes below the poverty line;

(c)youth, defined as young people aged 12 to 24, make up one-third of all homeless people in New South Wales;

(d)youth homelessness increased by 50 per cent between 2011 and 2016;

(e)just 17 per cent of homeless children and teenagers have access to supported accommodation; and

(f)children have been hit particularly hard by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as lockdown and online learning.

(4)That this House affirms that:

(a)children are not responsible for their family's financial situation;

(b)childhood poverty has a lifelong impact on an individual's health and wellbeing;

(c)safe, reliable alternative housing is essential to support homeless teenagers and young adults;

(d)all children have the right to safe, affordable and high-quality education; and

(e)supporting children benefits them, their families, the economy and the community at large.

Motion agreed to.

TAX SUPERPROFITS TO PAY WORKERS MORE

NSW is missing out on tens of billions of dollars. By introducing a progressive coal royalty structure similar to the one in Queensland, we would have raised an extra $20 billion last year.

The NSW Government owns and controls, on behalf of the people of this state, the rights to the minerals and materials that naturally occur in NSW land.

Huge fossil fuel companies are only able to extract and sell these commodities with the consent of the State. It’s time they paid a fair price for that privilege.

The fossil fuel industry has made hundreds of billions of dollars out of their cosy relationship with governments. Granted permission to extract and sell coal, these large multinational fossil fuel corporations pay just over 7% in royalties back to the people of NSW – keeping the rest as mega-profits for themselves. These companies have a track record of taking more than their fair share and leaving communities suffering and stranded with poisoned groundwater, devastated landscapes and a stranded workforce when it suits their business models.

Globally, the hyper-inflation of fossil fuel prices driven by price-gouging opportunism and war profiteering from Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has delivered record windfall profits to these already obscenely wealthy corporations. In the last year, NSW coal exports totaled over $70 billion dollars, but the people of NSW will only see about 7 cents in every dollar, or about $6 billion dollars of that amount.

Rather than going toward schools, hospitals and public infrastructure, billions of dollars went into the pockets of multinational mining corporations. The Greens believe there should be more money for schools and hospitals and less for mining billionaires.

Sign our petition calling on the NSW Labor Government to increase coal royalties to invest in communities.

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World Children's Day 2020

TAX SUPERPROFITS TO PAY WORKERS MORE

Sign our petition calling on the NSW Labor Government to increase coal royalties to invest in communities.

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